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Chose a date & time and view the position of comet C/2025 K3 (PANSTARRS) in the sky on our interactive planetarium.

Time: : UTC

Comet C/2025 K3 (PANSTARRS)

Above the horizon. Circumpolar today

Alt: 40.83° Az: 49.61° Direction: North-East

C/2025 K3 (PANSTARRS) is a long-period comet discovered on May 23, 2025. It follows a highly inclined (105°) parabolic orbit, reaching perihelion at 3.46 Astronomical Units (between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter) on Dec 13, 2029. It's estimated to be magnitude 14-15 from Nov 2028 to May 2029.

Comet C/2025 K3 (PANSTARRS) is in the constellation of Draco, at a distance of 1,528,511,289.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 18h 55m 24s and the Declination is +54° 46’ 36” (apparent coordinates). The estimated magnitude of comet C/2025 K3 (PANSTARRS), computed using JPL Horizons's data, is 21.48).

Finder Charts

The sky charts below show, at different resolutions, the position of comet C/2025 K3 (PANSTARRS) in the sky. Click on each chart to access the interactive star map tool.

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Star map showing the position of comet C/2025 K3 (PANSTARRS) in the constellation of Draco on F, d Y. Field of view: 50x30 degrees. View interactive star map.

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Star map showing the position of comet C/2025 K3 (PANSTARRS) in the constellation of Draco on F, d Y. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive star map.

The following map uses photographic imagery from the Digitized Sky Survey (DSS) to realistically visualize the precise position of comet C/2025 K3 (PANSTARRS) against the stars in the background. The horizontal size of the map measures 60 arcminutes. Click on the image to access a more detailed full-screen view.

C/2025 K3 (PANSTARRS)
RA: 18h 54m 53s
Dec: +54° 44’ 34”

Simplified high-resolution deep sky chart showing the current position of comet C/2025 K3 (PANSTARRS). Field of view: 60 x 40 arcminutes. Go to the dedicated page

Equatorial Coordinates

Apparent

Right Ascension 18h 55m 24s

Declination +54° 46’ 36”

Hour Angle 18h 09m 23s

Sidereal Time 13h 04m 48s

J2000

Right Ascension 18h 54m 53s

Declination +54° 44’ 34”

Additional Information

Constellation Draco

Observed Magnitude (COBS) n/a

Coma Diameter (COBS) n/a

Tail Length (COBS) n/a

Observation Date (COBS) n/a

Predicted Magnitude (JPL) 21.48

The observed values of Magnitude, Coma Diameter and Tail Length are derived from the most recent observation recorded at the Comet Observers Database. The value of Predicted Magnitude comes from the JPL Horizons ephemerides service and, in the case of comets, might be inaccurate given the highly dynamic and unpredictable behavior of these objects. When available, please refer to the Observed Magnitude value and consider the Predicted Magnitude as a directional indication. We acknowledge with thanks the comet observations from the COBS Comet Observation Database contributed by observers worldwide and used in this table to report recent comet observations.

Rise and Set Times

The following table lists today's rise, transit and set times of comet C/2025 K3 (PANSTARRS) from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Today comet C/2025 K3 (PANSTARRS) is circumpolar and transits at 00:22 UTC reaching a maximum altitude of 86.7°.

If you need to access this information frequently for your observations, you can create a simple customized Quick Access page, so that you can easily bookmark it in your browser favorites or add a shortcut to your mobile phones' home screen.

Distance from Earth

The distance of comet C/2025 K3 (PANSTARRS) from Earth is currently 1,528,511,289.0 kilometers, equivalent to 10.2174668787 Astronomical Units. Light takes 1h 24m 58.565s to travel from comet C/2025 K3 (PANSTARRS) and arrive to us.

Distance Km 1,528,511,289.0

Distance AU 10.2174668787

Light Travel Time 1h 24m 58.565s

The following graph shows the distance of comet C/2025 K3 (PANSTARRS) from Earth as a function of time. In the chart the distance is measured in Astronomical Units and the data is sampled with an interval of 1 day.

Chart of the distance of comet C/2025 K3 (PANSTARRS) from Earth in Astronomical Units (au)
Note: The values in this chart may not be entirely accurate around the time of closest approach for objects passing very close to Earth at high speed (e.g., Near-Earth Objects).

The value of the distance of C/2025 K3 (PANSTARRS) from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the live position tracker.

Closest Approach to Earth

In the period between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2099, the closest approach of comet C/2025 K3 (PANSTARRS) to Earth will happen on Saturday 24 February 2029 at a distance of 2.662618 Astronomical Units, or 398,321,936 kilometers:

Date Saturday 24 February 2029

Distance Kilometers 398,321,936

Distance AU 2.662618

Note: the values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.

Light Curve

The following chart shows the light curve of comet C/2025 K3 (PANSTARRS), i.e., its apparent magnitude as a function of time. The curve is calculated using the latest ephemerides provided by JPL Horizons. The magnitude data is sampled with the interval of 2 days. Because of this sampling, inaccuracies may occur for objects that have large variations of brightness over a few days. For comets, large discrepancies can arise between the calculated brightness and the observations due to their highly dynamic, and not always precisely predictable, behavior.

Chart of the magnitude of comet C/2025 K3 (PANSTARRS) as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of comet C/2025 K3 (PANSTARRS) at epoch May, 23 2025 00:00 UTC (JD: 2460819.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element	Symbol	Value
Orbit eccentricity	e	1.00192653
Orbit inclination	i	104.93709744°
Perihelion distance	q	3.46406931 AU 518,217,394 km
Aphelion distance	Q	n.a.
Semi-major axis	a	n.a.
Orbital period	period	n.a.
Date of perihelion transit	Tp	December 13, 2028 2,462,118.5262 JD
Argument of perihelion	peri	188.63799361401°
Longitude of the ascending node	node	350.63472081823°
Mean anomaly	M	-0.016792085775767°
Mean motion	n	0.00001293°/day

Orbit Visualization

The following chart is a 3D animated visualization of the orbit of comet C/2025 K3 (PANSTARRS) relative to the other major objects in the Solar System. You can access more advanced features using our 3D Solar System Viewer.

15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of comet C/2025 K3 (PANSTARRS) computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Apparent celestial coordinates are provided.

Date	Right AscensionR.A.	DeclinationDec.	MagnitudeMag	Constellation
Jun 23 2025	19h 01m 36s	+54° 36’ 10”	21.52	Draco
Jun 24 2025	19h 00m 49s	+54° 37’ 53”	21.51	Draco
Jun 25 2025	19h 00m 02s	+54° 39’ 29”	21.51	Draco
Jun 26 2025	18h 59m 14s	+54° 40’ 59”	21.50	Draco
Jun 27 2025	18h 58m 26s	+54° 42’ 22”	21.50	Draco
Jun 28 2025	18h 57m 38s	+54° 43’ 39”	21.50	Draco
Jun 29 2025	18h 56m 50s	+54° 44’ 49”	21.49	Draco
Jun 30 2025	18h 56m 01s	+54° 45’ 52”	21.49	Draco
Jul 01 2025	18h 55m 13s	+54° 46’ 49”	21.48	Draco
Jul 02 2025	18h 54m 24s	+54° 47’ 38”	21.48	Draco
Jul 03 2025	18h 53m 35s	+54° 48’ 21”	21.48	Draco
Jul 04 2025	18h 52m 46s	+54° 48’ 57”	21.47	Draco
Jul 05 2025	18h 51m 57s	+54° 49’ 25”	21.47	Draco
Jul 06 2025	18h 51m 08s	+54° 49’ 48”	21.46	Draco

Ephemeris Calculator

Compute the position of comet C/2025 K3 (PANSTARRS) for any date and time between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2099 and display the results on an interactive star map.